BEIJING - The four-point agreement between China and Japan is an important condition for improving relations between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Friday.

In response to Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida's Thursday comment that the agreement is not legally binding but should be respected "as a result of negotiations between Japan and China," Hong said the four-point agreement must be truly observed so that China-Japan relations can be gradually improved.

China and Japan reached a four-point agreement to improve bilateral ties when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, met on Nov. 7, agreeing to resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues while acknowledging different positions on the Diaoyu Islands.

China has since urged Japan to treat the agreement seriously and to earnestly follow and implement it.

China-Japan relations suffered a setback after the Japanese government "nationalized" the disputed Diaoyu Islands and backtracked on recognizing wartime atrocities the country committed in the past.